Understanding the mechanism of energy poverty affecting irrigation efficiency: evidence from rural China

Lower irrigation efficiency and energy poverty cast a pall on the prospects for sustainable development. However, their relationship is poorly understood, particularly in rural China. Using the China Family Panel Studies 2014–2018 waves, this study examines the impact of energy poverty (EP) on irrigation water efficiency (IWE). Result show that EP reduced IWE by 28.3 ~ 42.4%. These results are robust to a variety of estimation methods. The underlying mechanisms, as revealed by structural equation modeling, are that health and non-agricultural employment act as mediators of the EP-IWE relationship. Non-agricultural employment has a positive and statistically significant mediating effect, indicating that efforts to alleviate energy poverty are partially transmitted to IWE.